Star City (TV series)
2026 American TV series or program
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Star City is an American science fiction drama television series created by Ben Nedivi, Matt Wolpert, and Ronald D. Moore for Apple TV. It is a spin-off of For All Mankind with a focus on the Soviet Union. The name comes from the home of the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, Star City. The series premiered on May 29, 2026.
| Star City | |
|---|---|
| Genre | |
| Created by |
|
| Starring | |
| Music by | Federico Jusid |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 3 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
|
| Producers |
|
| Production locations | Vilnius, Lithuania |
| Cinematography | Brendan Uegama |
| Editors |
|
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 60–62 minutes |
| Production companies |
|
| Original release | |
| Network | Apple TV |
| Release | May 29, 2026 – present |
| Related | |
| For All Mankind | |
Cast
Main
- Rhys Ifans as Sergei Korolev, referred to as the Chief Designer, the driving force behind the Soviet space program.[1][2] The character was portrayed by Endre Hules in For All Mankind.
- Anna Maxwell Martin as Lyudmilla Raskova, the head of the KGB surveillance department at Star City
- Agnes O'Casey as Irina Morozova, a recent addition to the surveillance department at Star City. The character was portrayed by Svetlana Efremova in For All Mankind.
- Alice Englert as Anastasia Belikova, an untested female cosmonaut in the Soviet space program. The character was portrayed by Rita Khrabrovitsky in For All Mankind.
- Solly McLeod as Sasha Polivanov, a reckless cosmonaut who has yet to live up to his potential
- Adam Nagaitis as Valya Mironov, a highly respected cosmonaut within the Soviet space program
- Ruby Ashbourne Serkis as Tanya Mironova, a cosmonaut's wife who struggles within the confined world of Star City
- Josef Davies as Sergei Nikulov, a young, brilliant engineer who works at Soviet Ground Control. The character was portrayed by Piotr Adamczyk in For All Mankind.
Recurring
- David Dencik as Maxim Tarasov, the deputy chairman of the Communist Party for Star City
- Eliot Salt as Vika Yegorova, Irina's colleague in the KGB transcription section
Guest
- Niamh Algar as Yana Akhmatova, a cosmonaut who was trained to be the first woman on the moon
- Jenny Walser as Svetlana Leonova, the wife of cosmonaut Alexei Leonov
- Sam Strike as Pavel Fetisov, a cosmonaut and the Luna 17 orbiter pilot
- Sean Gilder as Vladimir Belikov, Anastasia's father
- Jamie de Courcey as Stanislav Kalinsky, an apparatchik for the Communist Party
- Ian Midlane as Mikhail, an engineer tasked for the Venus mission
- Hannah Steele as Ekaterina, an undercover western intelligence agent in Moscow
Additionally, Colm Feore, Chris Bauer and Dan Donohue made uncredited appearances in "The Eyes" as Wernher von Braun, Deke Slayton and Thomas O. Paine, respectively in which a clip from the NASA press conference scene in the first episode of the first season of For All Mankind was shown on Soviet television in the story.
Episodes
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by [3] | Original release date [4] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Eyes" | Nick Murphy | Teleplay by : Ben Nedivi & Matt Wolpert Story by : Ben Nedivi & Matt Wolpert and Ronald D. Moore | May 29, 2026 | |
|
In June 1969, Svetlana Leonova is awoken in the middle of the night and learns that her husband Alexei has become the first person to walk on the moon. The Chief Designer is bestowed the Hero of the Soviet Union in a secret ceremony, but no one can know of the honor for fears that the Americans may target him. Colonel Lyudmilla Raskova, the KGB's head of surveillance at Star City, tells the Chief Designer that the Americans have acquired his lunar base plans. Raskova's team has concluded that the culprit is Yana Akhmatova, slated to be the first woman on the moon, but new operative Irina Morozova finds evidence to the contrary. Raskova takes Morozova to Akhmatova and hands Morozova a gun which she hands back. Raskova then shoots Akhmatova since the KGB never admits mistakes. The Soviet authorities insist that the launch go on as planned though Akhmatova's replacement, Anastasia Belikova, will only have three days to prepare for the mission. After a suit malfunction and a harrowing spacewalk, Belikova becomes the first woman to walk on the moon. She strays from her scripted remarks before having her audio feed cut off. | |||||
| 2 | "A Bear on a Chain" | Nick Murphy | Andrew Chambliss | May 29, 2026 | |
|
The returning spacecraft with Belikova and Mironov lands several hundreds of miles off course in Siberia. Belikova is given a warning by Tarasov and Raskova to follow the scripts handed to her or she would be replaced at any time. Belikova was told that the Party expects her to attend events within the Soviet Union, meet the world press in Paris, and later marry fellow cosmonaut Sasha Polivanov. In Paris, Polivanov takes Belikova to a nightclub. A KGB agent tests Belikova's loyalties while posing as a western intelligence agent. Raskova takes Morozova to Paris to monitor the cosmonauts. Feigning the need for a translator, Raskova takes Morozova to East Berlin to assist in the interrogation of a suspected western courier. While Raskova leaves the room, Morozova is able to extract two new pieces of information about the courier's western contact via torture. Upon her return, Raskova reveals that she is fluent in German. Back in Star City, the Chief Designer notices that Nikulov is one of the few engineers who is able to create ingenious solutions to difficult problems on short notice. He asks Nikulov to help him develop plans in secret for exploring the solar system. | |||||
| 3 | "Bad Dancer" | Stefan Schwartz | Megan McDonnell | June 5, 2026 | |
|
With evidence of Western interference mounting during the summer 1970, Star City security has been enhanced prior to the expected launch of Luna 17 which would establish the first permanent lunar base before the Americans are able to react. To meet the new accelerated Party-imposed deadline, the engineering and training staffs have cut many corners to make it happen. Irina's and Tanya's worlds collide when it is discovered that Tanya is also Irina's daughter's music teacher during a chance meeting at the outdoor market. Concurrently, the Chief Designer and Nikulov work on a secret mission to Venus. Just prior to the lander separation on Luna 17, covert western technology was detected in the lander. In efforts to disable the foreign equipment, the KGB commanded Luna 17 to cycle the lander's power system which also kills cosmonaut Arseni Vetrov and aborts the mission. To compensate his wife Tanya for his long hours away from home during the Luna 17 preparations, Valya takes his wife to a Moscow piano recital where he runs into his Western intelligence handler. | |||||
| 4 | "Dark Forest"[5] | Stefan Schwartz | Liba Vaynberg | June 12, 2026 | |
| 5 | "Bite Your Elbow"[6] | Kasia Adamik | Gursimran Sandhu | June 19, 2026 | |
| 6 | TBA | TBA | George Mastras | June 26, 2026 | |
| 7 | TBA | TBA | KC Scott | July 3, 2026 | |
| 8 | TBA | TBA | Ben Nedivi & Matt Wolpert | July 10, 2026 | |
Production
The series is created for Apple TV by Ben Nedivi, Matt Wolpert and Ronald D. Moore, with Wolpert and Nedivi as showrunners and executive producers alongside Moore of Tall Ship Productions, and Steve Oster and Andrew Chambliss. Rhys Ifans is in a lead role as the Soviet's Chief Aerospace Designer with Anna Maxwell Martin as the head of the KGB surveillance team.[7][8] In February 2025, Solly McLeod, Agnes O'Casey, Alice Englert, Adam Nagaitis, Josef Davies and Ruby Ashbourne Serkis joined the cast.[9][10] In July, Priya Kansara joined the cast.[11]
Filming took place in Vilnius, Lithuania, from February 2025.[12][13] Filming locations included Vingis Park and Pašilaičiai.[14]
Release
Star City had its world premiere out of competition at the 2026 Canneseries.[15] It premiered on Apple TV on May 29, 2026.[4]
Reception
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes determined that 96% of 25 critics' reviews were positive and the average rating was 8.3 out of 10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Taut, ambitious, and impressively self-assured, Star City proves a worthy expansion of the For All Mankind universe with its blend of political intrigue and human drama."[16] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 80 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[17]
